Curfew shortened in three Egyptian provinces

Curfew shortened in three Egyptian provinces

Governors of the Egyptian provinces of Port Said and Suez have decided to reduce the curfew imposed a few days ago on the orders of President Mohammed Morsi, down to four hours instead of the established nine.

The heads of the regions adopted their decisions almost simultaneously, and just hours after a similar decree issued by governor of Ismailia province Gamal Imbabi.

In Ismailia, the curfew has been shortened to just three hours, and operates from 02.00 to 05.00, while in Suez and Port Said, from 01.00 to 05.00 local time.

The curfew was imposed due to a wave of unrest in the country timed to the second anniversary of the overthrow of President Mubarak.

Egyptian analyst Hani Ayad says the position of the military in his country’s conflict remains unclear. He spoke about this on Wednesday a day after Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi warned of a national collapse if the strife is allowed to go on unabated.

Dr Ayad dismissed this statement as hollow and designed to give the military maneuvering space.

Russian Arabist Dr Semen Bagdasarov has said he believes the military will stay neutral, because it is largely secularist. The military posts given by President Mursi to Islamists are not influential enough.